Flu Shots are [Still] For Idiots
Well it is flu season now and I was asked by a reader if there was anything new from last year’s post on “Flu shots are for idiots”.
Well I have had some delay because, well, I had the flu.
But that doesn’t mean I am going to get a flu shot!
Since last year the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) here in my home town of Atlanta, GA, have gone from thinking that everyone under the age of 6 should get a flu shot to stating that everyone under 18 should get one, in addition to everyone over the age of 50, as well as other groups of people with specific medical conditions, and healthcare workers. In fact, government agencies world-wide seem to be hyper-eager to get everyone to get those flu shots. But, personally, before I do anything like submit myself to having a needle jammed in my arm that I have to pay for, I always ask myself, is there any evidence that this is going to actually help ME? In the case of the flu shot the answer is… probably not. Sure it will help the manufacturer of the flu shot make their sales projections. And why the CDC has gotten itself into the sorry ass position of recommending vaccines for people in whom the evidence does not exist to support a real benefit is beyond me. In fact the data that flu vaccines save lives in these age groups is just not that great (translation: doesn’t exist). The problem is that there are many strains of flu and the vaccine targets only one, and you need the shots every year cuz the viruses keep changing.
And that oft quoted figure of 30,000 deaths per year? Half of those cases of the “flu” are actually flu-related illness that is not actually caused by an influenza virus (and not prevented by flu shots). And most of the rest are in the elderly who often have impaired immunity so the flu shot wouldn’t work for them anyway.
I have reviewed the literature and the ONLY group for which there is ANY evidence that flu shots might save lives is with people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is caused by smoking. So if you want to avoid dying from the flu, stop smoking. And no, they don’t reduce days lost from work overall.
As for the guilt trip that hospital workers should get the shot to prevent spread to patients, the flu is infectious for one day before the onset of symptoms and five days after the start of symptoms, so if you get sick, stay at home for five days
The experts in the literature are actually saying not to use flu vaccines, although noone seems to listen to them. Quoting epidemiologist Tom Jefferson below: from an article in BMJ.
The optimistic and confident tone of some predictions of viral circulation and of the impact of inactivated vaccines, which are at odds with the evidence, is striking. The reasons are probably complex and may involve a ‘messy blend of truth conflicts and conflicts of interest making it difficult to separate factual disputes from value disputes’ or a manifestation of optimism bias (an unwarranted belief in the efficacy of interventions).
Translation: Politicians that fell asleep in science class in high school are getting a lot of money from vaccine manufacturers. Through a combination of greasing the wheels and the fact that they are too stupid to know better, they actually think that they are helping us out by using government resources to try and ‘educate’ us that we need to get a flu shot that actually will do nothing for us.
Should you take Tamiflu or similar drugs to prevent the flu? As I have written about before it will only reduce your days of symptoms from 7 to 5, hardly a great deal for a drug that might make you want to off yourself.
originally posted December 17,2008
COMMENTS
Dan Abshear wrote on December 17, 2008
It is understood that the disease influenza is a disease caused by a RNA virus that can infect both mammals and birds. In fact, this particular virus can mutate to where it can be shared between the two life forms and multiply within each one of them.
Unlike coryza, influenza expresses symptoms more severely, and usually lasts two weeks until one recovers who has the flu. Influenza, however, poses a danger to some with compromised immune systems, such as the chronically ill. In cases such as this, influenza can in fact progress to deadly pneumonia. Symptoms of influenza usually start to express themselves 36 hours after being infected with the virus.
The flu vaccination contains three viral strains of suspected viruses for flu outbreaks during a particular winter season, as determined by the World Health Organization. Yet the strains chosen are speculated influenza viruses, as this does not eliminate the chance of a new and dominant influenza viral strain that possibly could cause a pandemic. It takes manufacturers about 6 months to make and formulate the influenza vaccination. We hope.
David Diamond wrote on December 17, 2008
Doug –
Kudos once again to you, perhaps because we think so much alike. I’ve been saying for years that the flu shot is useless and a waste of money.
FYI, attached is a paper published by the CDC. It shows that in ’97-98 people vaccinated with the flu shot actually had MORE lost work days and physician visits than placebo-injected controls. This is probably an example of randomness in science, since the next year the effect reversed with more placebo-injected people losing work than vaccinated people.
This paper also shows how rare the flu actually is – only 9 of 275 (3.2%) people in ’97 and only 20 of the 275 (7.2%) in ’98 were diagnosed with the flu – and no one died from it. It’s hard to see how the govt comes up with the figure of 30,000 deaths/year from the flu.
David Diamond
7 Comments
Other Links to this Post
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No Vaccine Please, Thanks Anyway | Before You Take That Pill — January 29, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
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Why you should get vaccinated against the seasonal flu anyway, despite H1N1 [Respectful Insolence] | Medical News — September 17, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
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Why I am Not Getting a Flu Shot This Year | Before You Take That Pill — September 24, 2009 @ 8:29 am
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By Therapy Patient, January 28, 2009 @ 11:22 pm
I wanted to let you know that I am one of those “Idiots”. I’ve gotten the flu shots in any year that there hasn’t been a vaccine shortage for more than 5 years, because I am exposed to hundreds of people during flu season. I have had no ill effects and also haven’t had the flu, but I have been dubious about its benefit because I know about viral mutation.
By Michele in Michigan, September 26, 2009 @ 7:21 am
I guess I’m another idiot. I have two kids who bring everything home from school. I do get a flu shot when I can. I have viral triggered asthma (also triggered by mold and cigarette smoke). Without a trigger, I can go months without using my rescue inhaler. The asthma AND the effects of the inhaler I use are much worse than any side effects I’ve ever had from the flu shot and the shot does seem to cut down on my incidence of sickness throughout the fall winter spring months.
That said, I do wish people in the non-target groups would hold off a bit on the shot. I called for a vaccine appt for me and my kids on Thursday and they are out of vaccine. So we will have to wait till they get more shipped in.
By Amy Philo, September 29, 2009 @ 1:11 am
No ill effects from the vaccines… but you have asthma… and you think vaccines will not make your asthma worse? Have you researched them and read how they are linked to asthma?
“The results of the JMPT study demonstrated that those children who had been given DTP and tetanus vaccination had significantly greater odds of asthma and allergy-related symptoms than those who had remained unvaccinated.”
http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=31598
That’s just one example but considering the ingredients in the shots include mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, and antifreeze I am not so sure how this is supposed to help your body…
Please be careful!
(I’m exposed to thousands of people every year, maybe more. Because I shop, eat out, go to school, to church, and the gym and pool…)
I used to take the flu shot, and boy do I feel like I was duped! Taking a vaccine with a live virus in it from last season’s flu seems a little bit pointless to me. So I put a live flu virus in my body, and exposed myself to the flu, and got the flu. Woo hoo.
By Ana Lewis, December 4, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Hi,
In the United States of America, we are fortunate enough to have the Tetanus vaccination; but in developing countries it is not accessible. Here at Disease.com, we admire organizations such as yourself, who have vowed to spread awareness and support extensive research. Disease.com (a website dedicated to disease preventions and treatments) would like to join your cause, by helping you spread awareness. If you could, please list us as a resource or host our social book mark button, it would be much appreciated. It is time we aid those, who can not help themselves.
If you need more information please email me back with the subject line as your URL.
Thanks
Ana